I believe the social world will be heading further into mainstream adoption. Novelty of creating a Twitter account, followed by wait-n-see approach will disappear, and brands will be looking for a more systemic approach to engaging in social media, including solid planning and measurement. Analytics will solidify their mindshare position as they attempt to cut through the noise and deliver actionable insights for businesses.

Privacy is going to continue to be an area of focus for tools, businesses and customers alike. As consumers, we will continue to push the boundaries of what’s private vs. public, what data we want companies to see, and in exchange for what benefit. Private and premium publishing and sharing will become more popular. As businesses, we will continue to explore and define best practices in listening and customer service via social media, without appearing creepy.

Social will become even more central to customer service, especially among big brands, which will become better at enacting social service alongside traditional service. Businesses will finally realize that every employee can touch the customer and will establish better collaborative processes to provide the most customer value.

How can businesses not be left behind?

The best way to not be left behind is obvious: do something about it. Social media and social business are ever changing, so if you go into “analysis paralysis” and are thus late to the party, you will be ineffective. At the same time, be careful of jumping in without a plan. Figure out where you need to engage and don’t try to be everywhere – you can’t possibly be effective everywhere.

Start any plan with an objective, a list of actionable and measurable steps and consistently measure and course-correct. Create a social contract with your customers: if you are going to provide service via Twitter or Facebook, make sure to state expectations upfront and stick to this contract. If you promise 24×7 help, you need to provide it, or risk a backlash.

You also need to create an internal crisis response plan, and decide how you will activate resources in times of crisis, as well as in times of peace. You need to get all key parts of the organization trained and working together to provide value to customers, partners and others.

What is going to happen in three years and beyond in the world of social?

Social won’t be a brave new world, but rather a part of business as we know it. Those who didn’t make it part of their organization, will be left behind. As kids who grew up using social networks come up in the business world, social engagement will be a part of every day ho-hum, much like email is today. No one questions the value of email now, and no one will question the value of social anything later. Data deluge will continue to be a problem; more and more we will rely on tools and platforms that provide context and allow us to connect and collaborate.

Esteban,
Very well articulated about the importance of social media for businesses. There are parallels to how businesses that adopted quickly to the “internet phenomenon” in the mid-90’s were much better positioned to reach out to their customers compared to the competitors that did not.
I anticipate the social media to become another channel that customers will use to communicate to the enterprise, albeit indirectly.

Yes, quick adaptation is paramount, and the way tech changes faster and faster, we need to keep up as businesses, and not simply keep up, but anticipate where things are going next. Like Wayne Gretsky said, “I don’t skate to where the puck is, I skate to where it’s going to be” 🙂

Social is a channel, but it’s more than a channel. It comes with a different set of expectations and best practices, as well as a new set of challenges. Expectations like realtime answers, and challenges like the deluge of data and being able to take action as a result of separating signal from noise.

I agree with you completely that the social world will be heading further into mainstream adoption. The companies that have embraced customer service are the ones that have gone on to become winners in every sector, confirming the notion that interacting with their customers leads to a sustainable advantage.

Social will become ever more central to customer service, especially among big brands, which will become better at enacting social service alongside traditional service and support.

But, perhaps more far-reaching is the center-stage role that the customer will play in the direction of corporate strategy. Consumers will increasingly expect open discussions with other relevant stakeholders, where those stakeholders welcome, respond to, and act on their insights. New tools like those we are developing in our company will put their offerings into a strategic central infrastructure. Companies will be able to provide consistent, high-quality support across all support channels, while including the wisdom of the crowd into their roadmaps.

Businesses will finally realize that every employee can touch the customer and will establish better collaborative processes to provide the most customer value.

I look forward to more discussions about social CRM. Thanks for your insights.